Priority effects are interactively regulated by top‐down and bottom‐up forces: evidence from wood decomposer communities

Leopold, Devin R.; Wilkie, J. P.; Dickie, Ian A.; Allen, Robert B.; Buchanan, Peter; Fukami, Tadashi

doi:10.1111/ele.12803

Cited by 46 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…This observation supports the view that species known as endophytes are prevalent after tree death in consecutive years. Experiments have demonstrated that the identity and abundance of primary colonizers can have effects on species communities of later decay stages (known as “priority effect”), which can differ with tree species (Hiscox, Savoury, et al., ; Hiscox et al., ; Leopold et al., ). More studies are needed to disentangle the complex interactions between abiotic and biotic effects driving the differences in fungal communities among host species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Independent effects of host and environment on the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi

et al. 2018

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Dead wood is a habitat for numerous fungal species, many of which are important agents of decomposition. Previous studies suggested that wood‐inhabiting fungal communities are affected by climate, availability of dead wood in the surrounding landscape and characteristics of the colonized dead‐wood object (e.g. host tree species). These findings indicate that different filters structure fungal communities at different scales, but how these factors individually drive fungal fruiting diversity on dead‐wood objects is unknown. We conducted an orthogonal experiment comprising 180 plots (0.1 ha) in a random block design and measured fungal fruit body richness and community composition on 720 dead‐wood objects over the first 4 years of succession. The experiment allowed us to disentangle the effects of the host (beech and fir; logs and branches) and the environment (microclimate: sunny and shady plots; local dead wood: amount and heterogeneity of dead wood added to plot). Variance partitioning revealed that the host was more important than the environment for the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi. A more detailed model revealed that host tree species had the highest independent effect on richness and community composition of fruiting species of fungi. Host size had significant but low independent effects on richness and community composition of fruiting species. Canopy openness significantly affected the community composition of fruiting species. By contrast, neither local amount nor heterogeneity of dead wood significantly affected the fungal diversity measures. Synthesis. Our study identified host tree species as a more important driver of the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi than the environment, which suggests a host‐centred filter of this diversity in the early phase of the decomposition process. For the conservation of wood‐inhabiting fungi, a high variety of host species in various microclimates is more important than the availability of dead wood at the stand level.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Independent effects of host and environment on the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi

et al. 2018

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“…Accessibility to, and colonization by these microbial organisms either from the soil, or via other organisms (macro‐ or micro‐) may also play an important role as priority effects can be influential (Leopold et al. ). Further experiments would be needed to clarify such effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wood decomposition is more rapid on than off termite mounds in an African savanna

2019

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Decomposition is important for nutrient cycling and the dynamics of soil organic matter. The factors that influence local decomposition rates in savannas dominated by Macrotermes mounds remain uncertain. Here, we experimentally assessed the effects of macro-and micro-detritivores, active and inactive mounds, and vegetation cover on wood decomposition rates for eight common woody plant species in Lake Mburo National Park, in Uganda. Five pairs of Macrotermes mounds, one active and one inactive per pair, were selected. Each mound provided two sample locations, one, the most shaded (with canopy cover), and one, the most open (without canopy cover) edge of mound. In addition, for each mound pair, one additional sample location was located off-mound, in an open level area between the mounds. After one, three, and 12 months, protected (wrapped in 1-mm mesh fiber-glass excluding macrodetritivores) and unprotected wood samples from each location were retrieved, brushed clean, oven-dried, and weighed. After 12 months, mean percentage mass loss was four times higher for unprotected than protected wood samples across all species located on mound sites (when decomposition in shaded and open microhabitats was combined). Mean percentage mass loss across all species combined was 1.2 times higher on active than inactive mounds. Across all mounds, decomposition was on average 1.1 times more rapid in the shaded than open mound parts. These differences were more pronounced on inactive mounds (1.3 times more rapid in the shaded than open parts). Percentage mass loss was markedly lower off-mound (12.6 AE 0.8%) than on active (25.9 AE 1.5%) or inactive mounds (19.7 AE 1.2%). Proportional mass loss for unprotected wood decreased with increasing wood density, but proportional mass loss of protected wood samples was not detectably influenced by wood density. Our study highlights the strong and locally contingent influence of termite mounds, termite activity, vegetation, and their interactions on wood decomposition rates within a savanna landscape. Furthermore, variation in per-species wood decomposition rates, including the negative correlation with wood density, depends on accessibility to macrodetritivores.

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“…Abiotic conditions can also indirectly affect community composition and functioning by altering community‐assembly dynamics, for example, by regulating the relative importance of priority effects as a structuring force (Leopold et al. ). Thus, our results should in no way be interpreted as implying that wood‐decay fungi are unaffected by abiotic conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Leopold et al. ). Species interactions subsequently alter individuals’ traits, behaviors, and corresponding ecosystem process rates, with abiotic factors mediating the intensity and nature of these biotic effects (Maynard et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species associations overwhelm abiotic conditions to dictate the structure and function of wood‐decay fungal communities

Maynard

Covey

Crowther

et al. 2018

Ecology

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Environmental conditions exert strong controls on the activity of saprotrophic microbes, yet abiotic factors often fail to adequately predict wood decomposition rates across broad spatial scales. Given that species interactions can have significant positive and negative effects on wood-decay fungal activity, one possibility is that biotic processes serve as the primary controls on community function, with abiotic controls emerging only after species associations are accounted for. Here we explore this hypothesis in a factorial field warming- and nitrogen-addition experiment by examining relationships among wood decomposition rates, fungal activity, and fungal community structure. We show that functional outcomes and community structure are largely unrelated to abiotic conditions, with microsite and plot-level abiotic variables explaining at most 19% of the total variability in decomposition and fungal activity, and 2% of the variability in richness and evenness. In contrast, taxonomic richness, evenness, and species associations (i.e., co-occurrence patterns) exhibited strong relationships with community function, accounting for 52% of the variation in decomposition rates and 73% in fungal activity. A greater proportion of positive vs. negative species associations in a community was linked to strong declines in decomposition rates and richness. Evenness emerged as a key mediator between richness and function, with highly even communities exhibiting a positive richness-function relationship and uneven communities exhibiting a negative or null response. These results suggest that community-assembly processes and species interactions are important controls on the function of wood-decay fungal communities, ultimately overwhelming substantial differences in abiotic conditions.

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Priority effects are interactively regulated by top‐down and bottom‐up forces: evidence from wood decomposer communities

Cited by 46 publications

References 68 publications

Independent effects of host and environment on the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi

Independent effects of host and environment on the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi

Wood decomposition is more rapid on than off termite mounds in an African savanna

Species associations overwhelm abiotic conditions to dictate the structure and function of wood‐decay fungal communities

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